Save The Gooner

What makes the Gooner special to me? How long have we got?

Well, the Gooner has literally hours unless we get 1,000 subscribers to keep it going.

Can you imagine a life without The Gooner?

If there is no printed edition, the broad church of opinion, fan views, history and interviews will cease.

We cannot let that happen. There are plenty of Arsenal blogs and that’s exactly what they are, blogs.

You get the writer’s views and that’s it. The current popular blog sites and we all know which ones they are, do not have any views other than reader comments from anyone other the bloggers themselves.

Think what you’d lose if the printed Gooner no longer existed. Do you think any online version would have articles and features as diverse as those in the printed magazine?

It takes weeks to collate everything that goes into the Gooner, do you think such care, attention, diversity and love would transfer entirely to an online edition?

You’d be lucky to get Layth’s view on life at Arsenal and very little else.

A perfect example of this is the online edition of any given newspaper. It is instant and accessible but totally different and nowhere near as comprehensive as the printed edition.

Do we want that for The Gooner going forward?

I’ve been part of The Gooner for over thirty years and hopefully I’ve been part of your life throughout that time too.

The excitement, anticipation and prospect of a new issue builds until it dops through the letterbox or you buy it at the stadium.

That entire feeling would disappear if you just clicked online in the hope there is a new comment by someone.

Gooner sellers Richard, Alex and editor Layth are as much a part of Arsenal tradition as the club itself. Everyone knows them or at least sees them. 

Do you want The Emirates do be a place where ‘Getcha Gooner’, no longer exists?

Finally, the reason the fanzine started was to give the fans an alternative view of all things Arsenal that you wouldn’t get from the club or official publications.

We can comment on anything and everything, sometimes it’s not favourable to the club, directors, manager or players, but it’s a voice we would lose without our beloved Gooner.

Over the years we have been instrumental in forming fan opinion on matters and events the club would rather we didn’t comment on and this is reflected in the fact that no one from The Gooner is going to appear in the horrendous new wall art they’ve put up with a picture of. ‘every Arsenal fan who has attended over 350 games at the Emirates’.

I’m one of Arsenal’s most prominent fans and so are all of us here at the Gooner and we’ve all seen over 350 games at the Emirates.

We weren’t asked to send our pictures in. That sums up The Gooner in a nutshell.

If the Gooner wasn’t here who would call the club out on things like that? Only friends of the club with tape over their mouths need apply.  

Every club needs an unofficial mouthpiece and the Gooner is ours. Let’s keep it that way.

I promise that all your favourite columnists and features will feature in all the printed editions of the Gooner next season, unlike with some issues this season, so you can be sure you’ll get your full money’s worth if you take out that subscription today. 

Please, please, please, do everything you can to keep The Gooner.

We won’t let you down if you do.

COYG!

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SAVE THE GOONER! 2023-24 SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscribing to the 2023-24 season could not be easier. We understand times are tight. Which is why we are introducing a two tier subscription system.

If you can afford to pay what the Gooner Fanzine should actually cost for a season, which is £45, then we have set up a Gooner Gold Subscription in which you’ll get all six print issues of course, but also free access to our digital edition and your name in print in our forthcoming ‘Hall of Fame’ in every issue next season.

However, if you can’t stretch to £45, or you simply feel that £30 (eight pence a day) is what you would like to continue to pay, then we have our Gooner Standard Subscription - with which you’ll receive six issues.

Please note, if you have already rolled over your direct debit (thank you!) but would like to upgrade to our Gooner Gold Subscription then simply pay the £15 difference to our PayPal account and we’ll amend your level accordingly.

So, to recap, here are the two options

United Kingdom:

Gooner Gold Subscription £45 – includes access to our digital edition (gift it to a friend) and your name in print in our forthcoming Gooner Fanzine Hall of Fame

Gooner Standard Subscription £30 - for those on a budget - subscription price frozen for yet another season

Rest of the World:Gooner Gold Subscription: £65Standard Subscription: £49 - for those on a budget - price frozen for yet another yearAll payment options are also available through our online shop here CHEQUESWe know that online banking isn’t for everybody so we will be able to accept cheques again this year Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Gooner’ and posted to:

The Gooner, 2nd Floor, 99 Bancroft, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1NQ.Please enclose a note with your full name, address, phone number and Email address or use the template below.As with previous years, cheques won’t be cashed until we reach our target 1000 UK subscribers. If we fail to reach our target, cheques will be destroyed. Please do not send cash through the post!

Yes please sign me up for the 2023-24 Gooner Gold subscription at £45 to help ensure our future I’m happy with the standard subscription at £30 to help Save the Gooner

NAME _____________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

POSTCODE___________________________________PHONENUMBER___________________

EMAIL ADDRESS (for digital editions) ______________________________________________

We will accept a photocopy of this form if you do not want to cut this page out of your Gooner. Or simply send a cheque for £30 or £45 to the address above with you full name, address and postcode

Or visit our online shop at www.onlinegooner.co.uk